Initiative to develop credible and politically achievable reforms that address consumer and taxpayer protection and promote open and competitive financial markets

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At an event in Washington today, the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) launched its new Financial Regulatory Reform Initiative to evaluate the financial regulatory system as a result of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) and propose reforms that balance financial stability, economic growth, and consumer protection.

The initiative aims to assist Congress, the executive branch and regulators as they work to further develop and potentially modify financial supervision and regulation. The new initiative is led by co-chairs Dr. Martin Baily, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton, and Dr. Phillip Swagel, former Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the U.S. Treasury Department.

"Through this new effort we will assess what aspects of Dodd-Frank are working well and what aspects need improvement, while preserving the intent of the law," said Dr. Baily at today's launch. "We will propose concrete and actionable recommendations for incremental changes to the legislation, as well as more substantive reforms to fill in the gaps left from Dodd-Frank."

"We understand that it is not possible to eliminate all future financial crises through rules and regulations," said Dr. Swagel today. "Still, we believe now, two years since the enactment of Dodd-Frank, is a key time to gauge the aspects of the legislation that have helped stabilize the financial system, and to consider possible changes to improve the regulatory system. We must be sure that any new reforms also promote economic growth, as we continue to deal with the lingering effects of a deep and difficult recession."

The initiative consists of a bipartisan membership of former regulators, policy advocates, academics and practitioners, including:

John Bovenzi, Partner, Oliver Wyman, former Deputy to the Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

John Coffee, Adolf A. Berle Professor of Law, Columbia Law School

H. Rodgin Cohen, Partner, Sullivan and Cromwell, LLP

James Cox, Brainerd Currie Professor of Law, School of Law at Duke

John Dugan, Partner, Covington & Burling, LLP, former Comptroller of the Currency

Richard Neiman, Managing Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, former New York State Superintendent of Banks

Mark Olson, Co-Chair, Treliant Risk Advisors, former Chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and former Governor of the Federal Reserve System

Eric Rodriguez, Vice President, National Council of La Raza

Robert Steel, Deputy Mayor For Economic Development, New York City and former Under Secretary of the Treasury Department

"Our initiative members have a deep expertise in the issues we will be considering, and members from both sides of the aisle will make specific proposals in each area," said Aaron Klein, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Coordination at the U.S. Department of Treasury, who will direct the effort.

The initiative will consider five aspects of financial reform: systemic risk; failure resolution; capital markets and the Volcker rule; consumer financial protection; and regulatory architecture. As part of today's launch, Klein and the initiative co-chairs released a white paper with an overview of each of these issues. Read the paper here.

Within these five areas, the initiative will consider domestic and international policy effects, the impact of regulatory policies on domestic growth and job creation, the impact of regulatory policies on the competitive position of U.S. firms in world markets, the manner in which U.S. policies may influence foreign regulatory policies, and the manner in which U.S. policies may promote or discourage the entry of foreign banks into the U.S. market.

As part of its work, the initiative will review the landscape of regulatory actions and inactions since the enactment of Dodd-Frank in 2010. The group will issue a series of white papers around each of these substantive areas beginning in 2013 and release a comprehensive report in the fall of next year.

"We are pleased to expand the work of our Economic Policy Program, which currently includes the Domenici-Rivlin Debt Reduction Task Force and Housing Commission, with a look to the financial regulatory system in the wake of Dodd-Frank," said BPC president Jason Grumet. "Like other BPC efforts, the Financial Regulatory Reform Initiative will conduct a series of informed deliberations and provide balanced policy recommendations that can receive bipartisan support."